


ninth

by tenkaede



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dialogue Heavy, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Late Night Conversations, Post-Canon, belated tenko birthday fic, tenko lived instead of himiko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:00:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22212193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tenkaede/pseuds/tenkaede
Summary: “Hey,” she starts. She pauses. “Hey, Maki-san. Do you think that they made up our birthdays, too? That they’re just-”“Fiction?”(Or: Chabashira's alleged birthday is the ninth of January.)
Relationships: Chabashira Tenko/Harukawa Maki
Comments: 1
Kudos: 45





	ninth

**Author's Note:**

> realistically? if himiko had died instead of tenko things would have turned out different. but we are not getting into that.

It’s nearly midnight when Harukawa gets up for water and spies Chabashira on the couch.

She doesn’t question it. Not immediately. It’s not uncommon for any one of the three to wake up any time during the night, for any reason, and it’s become routine enough that Harukawa knows not to ask why. She’s seen enough of Saihara and Chabashira walking around the apartment like strung-up puppets devoid of any semblance of soul during the night that she can guess what the reasons are, regardless. 

And in any case, Harukawa would retrieve her water silently, but she allows her feet to fall hard enough for the sound to alert the other girl to her presence. It’s only polite. She’s acknowledged with a jolt and a small wave, but not much more.

There’s a light on by the couch’s side. Harukawa can see Chabashira’s reddened eyes from where she is. 

“Just getting water,” Harukawa clarifies, nearly wincing at the sound of her own voice. It sounds much too loud in the silence of the apartment, and not nearly as gentle as she’d hoped. Gentle is never something she’s managed well, but Chabashira doesn’t seem to mind. 

There’s a hum and a thumbs-up, but something bubbles in Harukawa’s chest. She quickly identifies it as concern, because loud-upset Chabashira is bad, but quiet-upset Chabashira is worse. Quiet-upset Chabashira is unnatural. 

There’s too many things that Harukawa could say, but none of the words make it to her tongue, so she leaves Chabashira be and slinks over to the kitchen. The click of the light sounds like a snap and the running of water sounds like a hiss as she fills a glass, but those are sounds that mix naturally with the previous silence better than her voice does. 

She can see where Chabashira is seated from the kitchen. She pauses.

She fills another glass. 

Chabashira perks up once the kitchen light is off and Harukawa begins to approach. Given, with the one light she’d decided to have on, it’s hard for Harukawa to make out all of the features of her face, but she can see the way that the other girl’s eyes widen slightly. Whether it’s a good or a bad thing, though, is another question.

“Hey,” Harukawa says. She doesn’t take a seat. Not yet. 

“Hey,” Chabashira echoes, and it sounds uncharacteristically weak. Something about it makes Harukawa’s chest ache. “A-Ah, water?” 

That’s probably enough of an invitation to offer one of the glasses. Chabashira’s hands don’t shake when she takes it, cups it with both hands, and Harukawa thinks it’s either a good sign or an indicator that she’s been awake for far too long. 

And she’s never been any good at comfort, but she sits next to the girl anyway. Chabashira sips the water slowly and shuffles over until their knees bump. 

“So,” Harukawa says, “what’s up.” 

She curses herself internally. ‘What’s up’. What a great thing to say to someone that’s obviously been crying, whether that’s nightmare-induced or otherwise. She never seems to get better at these things. 

Chabashira hums, thinks, pauses. “Saihara-san’s still asleep, right?” 

“Like a baby, probably.” The comment makes her giggle, but unsteady as it is, Harukawa counts it as a step in the right direction. Or a good direction, if not the right one. She’s never seen a clear path when it comes to making Chabashira feel better. “So you can talk to me, if you want to.” 

“Tenko always wants to talk to you, though.” 

Harukawa chokes on what little water she’d sipped and covers her mouth to keep from spluttering for words as Chabashira gains a shaking smile. 

“Idiot.” The word slips out by accident, or instinct, or routine, but it does nothing except fuel Chabashira’s newfound grin. “Don’t say things like that when you’re upset.” 

Chabashira starts, “it’s true, though, Tenko does-” 

“Aren’t you the one that always talks about expressing feelings? Don’t dodge the question.” 

Chabashira blinks, and Harukawa snaps her jaw shut to keep from saying any more. She should know to be more careful with this - she knows she has to be gentle with her - she knows that whatever has her awake must be really upsetting if she’s avoiding it - she - 

“Sorry,” Chabashira says, “Tenko’s just-” 

“No, I’m sorry. You don’t… need to talk. If you don’t want to.” Harukawa looks down at her glass, down at her water, and moves her free hand up to tug at her hair. 

Chabashira hums. “Alright.” 

“I could go, if-” 

“No.” 

“Okay.” 

When it comes to comforting Chabashira, normally she just… needs to talk it out. That’s what Harukawa is used to. The crying, the shaking, the apologising, the _sorry, Tenko’s sorry, she should have protected Yumeno-san like she promised she would, Tenko was going to offer herself up instead, so that Yumeno-san could talk to Angie-san, why didn’t she do that, why couldn’t she do that, why didn’t she-_

Harukawa bites her lip. Thinks. Lets her hand fall from her hair to cup her glass, not even half-empty. “Tenko…”

Chabashira’s given name is foreign on her tongue and strange in her voice. What it is that they have, neither of them want to confront it when Saihara is around, which is most of the time. As strange as it feels, Harukawa doesn’t dislike it, and it grabs Chabashira’s attention. 

“I’m not going back to sleep.” It’s not a lie, really. Harukawa can’t leave either of the other two alone when they’re upset, and especially not Chabashira. Never Chabashira. “If you want to talk in five minutes, or in an hour, or in the morning…” 

“Thank you,” Chabashira says. Harukawa catches the way she glances at her before leaning over to rest her glass on the floor. “Ah, Tenko sounds- it sounds like Tenko isn’t actually grateful. She is, she promises!” 

“It’s fine. I know that you’re being sincere.” 

Harukawa goes back to tugging at her hair, because that is something familiar and none of this is. No, seeing Chabashira upset, that’s familiar. Exchanging quiet words and talking through the night, that’s familiar, now. What’s a lot less familiar is whatever it is that’s in the air and whatever it is that’s in Harukawa’s chest. 

Affection, maybe. She’s not sure. She’s never been sure, with this. 

She doesn’t dwell on it. 

Chabashira makes a quiet noise, something tired, and leans into Harukawa’s side. Just a few months ago, it might have been an unwelcome touch, but now she’s content to sit still as Chabashira’s head rests on her shoulder. 

She’s a naturally touchy person, except when it comes to boys, so Harukawa’s always taken the brunt of her physical affection, but there’s something… nicer about it now. Softer. Warmer. A gentleness that she’s never had before. She thinks that if Chabashira needs to stay like this all night, then she’ll be okay with that. 

Chabashira only breaks the silence minutes later. 

“Hey,” she starts. She pauses. “Hey, Maki-san. Do you think that they made up our birthdays, too? That they’re just-” 

“Fiction?” Harukawa offers.

Chabashira’s gaze drops and her mouth pulls into a small grimace. “Tenko was going to say ‘fake’. But that works too!” It looks almost like she’s going to add more, speak more, but the silence takes over instead. Harukawa feels her shift against her side, and then Chabashira pulls an arm over Harukawa’s stomach. An awkward embrace, from how they’re positioned, and Harukawa stiffens. “Ah, sorry, Tenko can-” 

“It’s fine. You’re fine.” It’s truth. Maybe it wouldn’t have been, a while ago, but Harukawa relaxes after a moment. “To answer the question, I don’t know. I don’t think about it. Knowing them, though, our birthdays are probably fake.” That’s also truth. Harukawa never got to celebrate her birthday much in her fictional past. There’s no more reason to think about it, even now. “Why are you asking?” 

“Because Tenko was wondering-” Chabashira shifts again, and lets her head fall from Harukawa’s shoulder to her chest. “-mostly because it’s Tenko’s birthday soon. Or now. Tenko can’t see the time.” 

“The ninth?” 

“Right! And Tenko was just thinking - hey, don’t apologize, Tenko didn’t remember it either until she came out here - Tenko was just thinking, if we can’t acknowledge these birthdays, then what can we acknowledge? It’s not like we can just choose a random date.” 

Chabashira’s words trail off as she speaks, and averts her eyes to anywhere but Harukawa. 

She doesn’t know how important Chabashira’s birthdays were in her fictional past, and she doesn’t ask. If it’s important enough to be on her mind, then it must mean something. 

“Do you want to celebrate it?” Harukawa asks, “your birthday.” 

Chabashira stiffens at the question, and a tiny, confused noise rolls from her throat, but she answers the question after a moment to think. “Tenko never celebrated her birthday much, with - ah, she means, in the… you know.” The fake backstory. She does know. “And on one hand, Tenko thinks that she should celebrate with the freedom that she has now! On the other hand, Tenko’s not so sure that she should celebrate something made up by Danganronpa.” 

Chabashira hums, long and thoughtfully. She’s probably weighing up their options. 

She abruptly cuts off when Harukawa’s free hand moves to clasp hers. Only lightly, but it seems like the best thing to do. And… hand-holding is nice for the both of them, anyway. 

Harukawa doesn’t see the big deal in celebrating birthdays, fake or not, but she _does_ care about Chabashira. “Let’s… think of it another way. Would it make you happy?” 

“Hm?”

“If you decided to celebrate it. Would it make you happy.” 

“It would depend,” Chabashira says, squeezing Harukawa’s hand, “on how Tenko celebrates it, she thinks.” 

All that Harukawa knows of celebrating birthdays - _really_ celebrating birthdays - comes from media. She can imagine pinatas and balloons and streamers and presents, but it’s not something they can manage. Not something that big. 

But if it would make Chabashira happy, then she can find some ideas. “Listen. Tenko-” God, she doesn’t think she’s ever going to get used to the first-name basis, but it feels… good. “-Let’s… do something tomorrow. For you.” 

“For Tenko?” Chabashira echoes.

Huh. Her voice sounds clearer than it was earlier. 

“Yeah. I’m going to assume you don’t want Saihara to-” 

“No way.” 

“Right. So let’s just leave. As long as we tell Saihara that we’re going, he won’t need an explanation. Probably.” 

“But males…” Chabashira pauses. Breathes. Tries again. “What if he demands one?” 

“Then we tell him it’s none of his damn business.” That warrants a snicker, and Harukawa belatedly realises that she’s smiling. 

“And where could we go?” There’s a kind of playfulness that seeps into Chabashira’s voice. Harukawa counts it as a win, until the girl pokes at her cheek. “Tenko wants sweets.” 

“Tenko. We can literally go wherever you want,” Harukawa deadpans.

“Clothes shopping, then.” 

“So that you can try on cute clothes?”

“So that Tenko can make _you_ try cute clothes,’ Chabashira corrects, shooting her what’s probably an attempt at puppy eyes.

It’s cute in it’s own right, but given that her eyes are still somewhat red from the aftermath of crying, it doesn’t work as a persuasion technique. Harukawa raises her eyebrows and makes a point of frowning. “Right. And that’s… really what would make you happy.” 

“Yes!” 

“And you’re definitely sure that you want to celebrate your birthday now.” 

“Yep!” Chabashira pops the ‘p’.

“And, you…” Harukawa looks to their intertwined fingers, and some idle part in the back of her mind wonders how Chabashira’s hand is so soft. “You feel better than you were before. Right?” There’s a hum of confirmation, and humour was never Harukawa’s forte, but it seems like the best road to take. “Hey. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think that this whole thing was an elaborate scheme of yours.” 

Chabashira’s quick to act upon the accusation, propping herself up to Harukawa’s level in order to glare. “An elaborate scheme?” Her voice raises in both volume and pitch much too quickly. “To do what? Tenko isn’t so sneaky as to-” 

“Quiet. You’ll wake Saihara.” 

Chabashira snaps her jaw shut and pouts, but does as asked before she continues. “Tenko isn’t that sneaky. She doesn’t trick girls like you.” 

“Are you sure?” Chabashira’s telling the truth, of course, and the both of them know that. Maybe the other girl might not have picked up on when Harukawa is joking, when they had first emerged from the game, but now is another story. “Because it almost seemed like this was some weird convoluted way to get me to try on cute clothes.” 

The way that Chabashira’s face slowly moves from confusion to horror to faux-offense is comedic, sure, but it’s so undeniably _her_ that Harukawa can almost forget how unnaturally quiet she was earlier. 

“Don’t smirk like that,” she scowls. 

Harukawa can’t even deny that she is.

Chabashira’s exaggerated frown turns lopsided, and then the warmth of her hand is gone before there’s time to question it. She pulls away from Harukawa so quickly that there’s a moment of panic, a second of _did the joke hit a nerve? Is Chabashira legitimately hurt?_ until Harukawa’s other hand is empty, too. 

Chabashira pulls the glass, and what’s left of its contents, out from Harukawa’s fingers and down to the floor next to her own neglected water. Harukawa raises her eyebrows to pose a question, but there’s no answer. Not a clear one, even if she can at least find reassurance that she _hasn’t_ offended Chabashira in the way that the girl abandons her false frown. 

“Tenko thinks-” She starts, and then _oh,_ she’s climbing onto Harukawa’s lap.. “-that you’re the sneaky one here, actually, for even suggesting that Tenko’s birthday problems are a trick!” 

There’s more than one hundred ways Harukawa can respond to that, but with a girl suddenly wriggling to find a comfortable position on her lap, she can only manage, “sure. Sorry.” 

Chabashira makes a satisfied huff once she finds a position she seems to deem comfortable, even if it requires Harukawa to hold her up with an arm. 

“Is this some kind of tactic to convince me that all of this _wasn’t_ a scheme?” Harukawa says, once she finds her words. 

“No, Tenko just decided that she doesn’t want to mope anymore, and also that you look very comfy.” 

“Mope?”

“Mope,” Chabashira says, “because Tenko doesn’t want to be sad anymore, tonight. So… she’s decided that she wants to celebrate her birthday, whether or not it’s fake. And she wants it to be fun.” There’s a strange firmness to her words, and her eyes glint with some sort of determination. It’s instantly broken a moment later. “Gh - unless Tenko climbing into your lap wasn’t okay?” 

“It’s fine. And… we’ll make it fun for you, tomorrow. Even if it means wearing what fits your standards of ‘cute’.” It sounds like a promise. Harukawa means for it to be. But there’s a question on her mind, so she adds, “your birthday troubles… I doubt that was all you were upset about tonight, right?” 

Chabashira blinks. Hums. Regards the question with a small shrug and a tiny frown. “No. But Tenko’s going to tell you about it in the morning! Right now she really doesn’t want to start moping again.”

That’s understandable, Harukawa thinks, and there is what must be… one, two, three minutes of silence. A comfortable silence. 

Chabashira is the one that breaks it again. “Do you think that it’s midnight already?” 

“Probably. It was nearly midnight when I came out here.” 

“Huh…” Chabashira taps a finger to her chin. “Tenko’s birthday, then.” 

This is probably the part where Harukawa wishes her a happy birthday. With a small smile or while ruffling her hair or… something. 

But the words sit on the edge of her tongue. It’s lucky that Chabashira doesn’t seem to mind her silence, and it gives her time for other ideas to form. 

“Tenko, can you look at me, for a second?” 

Chabashira follows the request with nothing more than a confused hum and wide eyes, but that’s fine. Harukawa just needs a moment. The confused hum trails off into something strangled as her free hand cups Chabashira’s quickly-reddening cheeks. 

Cute. 

Except Harukawa is quickly aware that if she waits for too long, she’ll lose her nerve. 

So, quickly, she leans towards Chabashira and plants a small kiss on the tip of her nose before there’s any time for doubts. 

“Ah-” Chabashira starts, and is still choking on her words by the time Harukawa’s pulled away, in all of her flustered glory. “Ah, you, you…” She slaps both hands over her face, but that’s fine. Harukawa doesn’t need to see to know that both of their faces are burning red. “You - wh-what was that for?” 

“There’s two reasons,” Harukawa says. She’s vaguely aware of the way her own cheeks start to puff out. “First of all, because Saihara wasn’t awake to see. And the second…”

There’s a deliberate pause. It’s just long enough to coax Chabashira away from hiding behind her hands, and Harukawa notes that she almost doesn’t look like she’d been crying earlier anymore. 

“Happy birthday.” 

**Author's Note:**

> did i edit this? no. did i beta read this? no. did i write this in a good state of mind? absolutely not. do i hate this? yes. am i desperate to get this out into the world before i'm even later to tenko's birthday? also yes. too much of my pain went into this for me to not post it. 
> 
> happy birthday babey....... belated national lesbian day 
> 
> ( pst follow me on tumblr @ tenkokaedes i would like to talk about Them )


End file.
